Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a node (e.g., a transmission station) and a wireless device (e.g., a mobile device) Some wireless devices communicate using orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) in a downlink (DL) transmission and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) in an uplink (UL) transmission. Standards and protocols that use orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) for signal transmission include the third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) (e.g., Release 11 or V11.3.0dated 06-2013), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard (e.g., 802.16e, 802.16m), which is commonly known to industry groups as WiMAX (Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access), and the IEEE 802.11 standard (e.g., 803.11ac, 802.11ad), which is commonly known to industry groups as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity).
In 3GPP radio access network (RAN) LTE systems, the node can be a combination of Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node Bs (also commonly denoted as evolved Node Bs, enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs, or eNBs) and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), which communicates with the wireless device, known as a user equipment (UE). The downlink (DL) transmission can be a communication from the node (e.g., eNodeB) to the wireless device (e.g., UE), and the uplink (UL) transmission can be a communication from the wireless device to the node.
Wireless devices can include mobile communication technology to communicate using multiple radio access technologies, such as LTE, WiMax, or WiFi. For example, in some configurations, the wireless devices may include a radio to communicate using LTE protocols via an eNB and a radio to communicate using a WiFi protocols via a wireless access point (WAP). In other configurations, wireless devices can include a single radio to communicate with both the eNB and the WAP.
When a wireless device (e.g., mobile node) can simultaneously access both a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., Wi-Fi) and a wide wireless area network (WWAN) (e.g., second generation/third generation (2G/3G) cellular, LTE, or WiMAX), the wireless device can select a network for an Internet Protocol (IP) packet flow (e.g., an IP flow mobility technique).
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.